Three new appellations as a holiday gift

David Hirsch, one of the original Fort Ross-Seaview petitioners, in his Cazadero vineyard. (Photo: Craig Lee/The chronicle, 2009)

Just in time for the holidays, two prominent and long-sought California wine appellations, Coombsville and Fort Ross-Seaview, were approved Wednesday by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The Naches Heights American Viticultural Area (AVA) outside Yakima, Wash., was also approved.

The success for Coombsville, located east of the city of Napa, is an especially nice Christmas gift for Napa Valley’s winemakers. The horseshoe-shaped Coombsville district, in the shadow of Napa’s Mt. George, has long been established as a distinct, slightly cooler spot that grows nuanced, noteworthy Cabernet. Home to such properties as Farella and Meteor vineyards, it has become a rising star for a style of Cabernet that’s more restrained than some Napa blockbusters of recent years. (Patrick Comiskey did a fantastic take on Coombsville’s virtues in the latest Wine & Spirits.)

It was relatively undisputed that Coombsville deserved its own recognition. As this style of wine gets ever more attention, the arrival of Napa’s 16th subappellation, at 11,075 acres, is a welcome turn for winemakers.

The push for Coombsville looks modest compared to the long battle to establish Fort Ross-Seaview, on the remote Sonoma Coast outside Cazadero. While the Sonoma Coast AVA is a bit of a muddle, there has been a lengthy push to start subdividing its geography. In the case of Fort Ross, efforts began around 2002 to carve out a subset of the coast that included such famous vineyards as Hirsch, Flowers and Martinelli’s Blue Slide Ridge.

The proposal faced initially opposition from Fort Ross Vineyards (over the name; those objections were later dropped) and Hartford Family (for being partly excluded) and languished for the better part of a decade. But the TTB ultimately sided with the original plan — and rejected a requested expansion that would have included vineyards to the north near Annapolis. The new AVA will encompass 27,500 acres.

The Naches Heights appellation, which includes 13,254 acres on a volcanic rise just west of Yakima, was meant to carve a smaller subsection of the Columbia Valley. It becomes Washington state’s 12th AVA.